Steam-trap and air-vent for radiators.



No. 882,595. PATENTED MAR. 24, 190a.

0.. B. THOMPSON. STEAM TRAFAND AIR VENT FOR RADIATORS.

APPLICATION" FILED mm? s, 1907.

jki/ne/sflew fiz ekeairw 2 UNITED sTA'rns PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES THOMPSON, or BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR o AMERICAN RADIATOR COMPANY, A C(HtPORA/FION or NEW-JERSEY;

STEAM-TRAP AND AIER-VENT FOR RADIATORS .'No. ceases.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 24, recs.

Application filed July 5, 1907. Serial No. 382,216.

A To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. THOMP- SON, a citizenof the United States, and resident of Bufialo, county of Erie, and State of 1 '5 New York, have invented certain new and 1 useful Improvements in Steam-Traps and Air-Vents for Radiators, of which the following is a specification, and which are illusi trated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof. f

The invention relates to devices for preventing an excess of steam passing through heating radiators, while permitting the free discharge of air therefrom; and it consists of the structure hereinafter described and which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a detail of aradiator, the'im proved trap and vent being shown in longitudinal section; and Fig. 2 is an end elevation' of the trap and vent.

Steam radiators require to be vented in order that when the steam is first turned on it may drive out the cold air with which the radiator is filled. The devices most com-- monly used for this purpose whether automatic or manually controlle vent into the room, and in addition to the objection that the air discharged is apt to be foul there frequently occurs an escape of water and of steam.

In the use of steam radiators it is desirable, in the interest of economy also, that the steam be retained in the radiator until itshall have wholly or in large part condensed, and this purpose has been usually accomplished when a very low pressure is maintained by providing a trap in the return pi e or nipple connecting it with the radiator, t 1e. water seal preventing the escape of the steam. When appreciable pressure is used this arrangement is inefficient because the water seal is broken.

, The object of this invention is to provide, in a single device, an air vent and a water seal, and furthermore, to so vent the radiator that the air will be discharged into the return pipe without forcing same through a water seal; and to also supplement the usual water seal steam-trap with a spring-closed check valve, yielding to an accumulated head of water, provision being made for adjusting the tension of the spring for varying pressures and various sizes of radiators. By, this means it becomes unnecessary to pro- 1 vide a manually-controlled valve at the discharge endof the radiator.

A section of a radiator is shown at 10, be ing the section from which the return pipe leads. A plug 11 is screwed into a suitable. aperture at the baseof the radiator section. This plug is coredto form a water sealed chamber 12, metal being. saved by castingthe plug with a boss or enlargement 13 on its inner end to provide ample stock within which to form the chamber. A port 14 is formed in the wall of the plug to connect'the chamber 12 with theinterior of the radiator, and the'plug is so set that this port is at the lower side. A threaded aperture enters through the outer face of the plug, into which there is screwed a' nipple 15, this orifice entering the up er portion of the chain her so that there wi 1 be no discharge of wa-v ter from the radiator until it has reached a higher level than the port 14. An elbow 16 is attached to the nipple 15, preferably by means of a union joint 17, the discharge end 18 of the elbow being turned down and being internally threaded for the attachment of the return pipe, not shown.

In the lowerend 18 of the elbow is provided an annular downwardly-facing valve seat 19, to which is applieda disk valve 20 loosely fitting a rod 21, the upper end of which is threaded and extends through a correspondingly threaded orifice at the top of the elbow, its end being transversely slotted for the engagement of a screw driver. The

valve 20 is held to its seat by means of a I spring 22, reacting against its lower face and a pin 23 set through the lower end of the rod 21. By turning the rod 21 the tension of the spring 22 can be regulated.

A nipple 2 10f small boreis set through the wall of the plug 11, as shown through the upper wall ofthe boss 13. connecting the upper portion of the chamber 12 with the interior of 'the radiator. By thus locating the air vent away from the side wall ol the radiator it is not flooded by the water of condensation flowing down such wall. and by making it in the form of a nipple of substantial length it better retards the {low of steam after the air is expelled, as the slight lead of steam it will acconnnodateis condensed in the nssage. the water of condensation clogging t 1e duct. This condensation is promoted by using for the nipple a metal of high conductivity, such as brass. A small duct 25 extends longitu-' dinally into the rod 21, from its lower end and laterally, at a level above that to which the water will ordinarily rise'.. to communicate with the interior of the elbow 16. By this means a constantly open air vent is provided through the nipple 24. the chamber- 12, nipple'15, the upper portion of the elbow 16 and the duct 25 to the return pipe, so that when steam is turned into the radiator cold air may slowly escape. The water of con densation accumulates at the base of the radiator. rising in the chamber 12 through the ort 14 and overflowing into the downturned eg of the elbow 16. The tension of the spring 22 may be so adjusted that the water rises to any desired level in order to accumulate sutlicient head to open the valve, thus readily adapting the system to changes in steam pressures. The bore of the nipple .21 is so small that the escape of steam therethrough afterthe air has been expelled from the radiator will be so slight as to be negligible.

I claim as my invention 1. A trap return connection for radiators having in combmatlon, a body having a chamber whose outlet is higher than its inlet, the chamber having an air vent through an upper wall; an elbowconnected with the chamber and having its remoter leg directed downward, an outwardly-opening springseated valve within the vertical arm of the elbow; a stem carrying the valve and being vented therethrpugh.

2. In combination, a chambered body, its chamber having openings in'its upper and lower walls: an elbow connected with the chamber and having a down-turned leg, with an knttwardly facing valve seat, a valve stem located on the vertical axis of the clownturned leg and extending through and in threaded engagement with the elbow wall, and having a duct opening through its inner end and laterally adjacent its upper end, a valve loosely fitting on the stem and adapted to the valve-seat, and a spring reacting be tween the valve and a shoulder at the inner end of the stem.

CHARLES B. THOMPSON.

Witnesses PETER MAKE, ARTHUR G. BROWNE. 

